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Music may be the food of love, but food is the music of the soul. Different music often evokes memories of different times, places and people; for me, food does the same thing. When I'm hungry on a cold night, the smell of roast chicken is evocative of childhood Sundays; bread baking in the oven makes me hungry even if I wasn't before! However the food that I love most of all is Cape Malay cooking from my native South Africa. My senses come alive and I am transported to Cape Town, that beautiful city on the southern coast of Africa when I savor the sweet and sour flavor of Cape Malay food.

In the seventeenth century, this tip of the continent became the crossroads of trade routes plying between Europe and the East - resulting in a mixture of cultures living together. They often blended and produced unique new dishes that have since become staple fare in South Africa. Sailors from Europe used the Cape as a half-way station in those days, on their journey to the East for spices that were much in demand back home. They came back laden with turmeric, cardamom, fennel, allspice, chillies and cloves, leaving some of their cargo behind in Cape Town. These spices from the Far East, much loved by the Malay population, were added to leftover Sunday roast meat enjoyed by the Dutch; they were mixed with bread, and then cooked with eggs and milk to make Bobotie which would be eaten on Mondays. Bobotie would be served with rice and chutney and today is eaten any day of the week! Often the rice is cooked with a touch of turmeric and raisins to make it "yellow rice." For adventurous readers, here is an easy recipe for Bobotie.

2 slices stale bread
1 tablespoon canola oil
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons curry powder
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 lb. ground meat
2 eggs
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons sugar
Topping
1 egg, slightly beaten
1 cup milk

Soak bread in a little hot water briefly, and then squeeze dry. Heat oil and saute onion briefly; add cloves, garlic, salt, curry powder and turmeric and simmer for 5 minutes. Add to meat with eggs, lemon juice and sugar and stir to blend. Spoon mixture into greased oven-proof dish and bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes. Remove from oven. Beat egg and milk for topping and pour over Bobotie. Bake for a further 12 minutes.

Spices were also added to the plentiful fish caught in the Cape. Together with sliced onions in a curried sauce, pickled fish was created. It was often used by sailors heading back to Europe or to the Far East, for it lasted well on the voyage. In addition, meat was salted, spiced and hung to dry (much like jerky) and this too, was used by sailors. It was called biltong and is much enjoyed still - delicious grated and sprinkled lightly in a salad. Pickled fish can be eaten hot or cold, summer or winter.

It's a shame that Cape Malay cooking isn't known and appreciated more widely, for it is not only delicious, but nutritious and economical. I am able to enjoy it only when I cook it at home, except for the happy times when I am traveling back to South Africa. If ever you make a trip there, be sure to try Cape Malay food. It will sing to your soul, I'm sure.

Learn more about this author, Glynnis Hayward.
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